Never Sharp Enough
by silversrider
Summary: Humanized. He was never more than just Private. Naive. Expendable. Unimportant. A boy without a real name. He never got appreciated and it broke him down. "Have you ever seen the wounds of your soul reflect upon your own body?"
1. Chapter 1: Seemingly Normal

_Hey :)_**  
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_This is my new story, I hope you enjoy this one!  
_

_For the ones who have read more of my stories: This will NOT include any character dead. :)  
_

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**Chapter 1: Seemingly Normal**

"_Have you ever seen the wounds of your soul reflect upon your own body?"_

Private looked around his room. Happy colors, smiling horses with horns on their heads, homework, some dirty clothes in the corner, it appeared to be a normal teens room. Maybe a bit childish for a boy already seventeen years old.

His cloths were neat, clean, his haircut made him look down-right adorable. His black jacket was open, revealing his white t-shirt. His sparkling blue eyes could make every girl fall for him. Still he looked young, younger than he really was. He sat down at his desk to work on his 'homework', just like every other seemingly normal teen would do in a seemingly normal teens room.

If only he was normal. If only his room was normal. His homework? No, that were old mission files. His clothes? That was a part of his cover. His 'dad'? No, that was only his commanding officer. Private's life wasn't in any way like that of a normal teen. The only thing he did just like his fellow teens was going to school. But they didn't like him. They always told him that he was stupid, loving the Lunacorns. They laughed because of his British accent. They mocked him because he never hang out with them.

They knew that he was not normal, they could feel it. For Private, it felt like letting Skipper, his guardian, his commanding officer, almost his dad, down. But Skipper always yelled at him. He always was the 'expendable' one, the naïve one, the cute one. They never told him that he was important, meant something to the unit, they never even told him that they liked him. He was just Private for them.

Private, the boy without parents. Private, the boy who always listened. Private, the boy who was always honest. Private, the boy without name. He was just Private. Nothing more, nothing less. Just as unimportant as the shoes he was wearing.

A loud bang made him look up from the old mission files. Not that he was paying attention to them. "KOWALSKI!" He heard Skipper yell. Private shook his head. His team mate had once again blew up a place in their seemingly normal home. It was a mystery that their neighbors never called the police. Maybe that was because their neighbors were always playing that loud music, until deep in the night, driving Skipper completely crazy. He made sure that he closed the folder holding the mission files, before walking towards Kowalski's lab.

"Are you both alright?" The two men stopped their conversation, which seemed to become louder every second, to look at the teenage boy. "Sure we are, Private, don't worry." The large man spoke. He had to be around 1.88 meters high and although he appeared a bit geeky, his black hair, combed backwards, and his large blue eyes made him look very handsome. For some reason, unknown to Private, he used an abacus to calculate on, and most of the time he wore safety goggles. Private wondered if Kowalski would need the goggles if he used a normal calculator, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

In front of Kowalski stood Skipper, their commanding officer. He was small, only a little higher than Private was. His black hair was cut in a military way and he had, just like Private and Kowalski sapphire blue eyes. His face always looked stern, official like. He only smiled in the rarest occasions. He always wore a black suite, with a white chalk stripe. It made him appear less commando like and got the attention away from his muscular body. It made him more look like a businessman than a highly trained commando officer.

Private narrowed his eyes. It was obvious that they had been fighting. A long silence followed, with the three just looking at each other, when Rico came running in.

"'inner! I's 'edy!" Rico jumped up and down with excitement. Private laughed a little by seeing the look on their weapons expert face. Rico was a very muscular man, tall, but not as tall as Kowalski. He had a scar on the left side of his face, and his black hair was always looking a bit messed up. Rico was handsome, but his not-so-normal part made it for him impossible to find a real girlfriend. Rico had just like the other team members blue eyes. And not unimportantly, he was able to make the most delicious sushi a man could ever eat. Skipper turned towards their over excited weapon expert. "Good job Rico! We'll join you in seconds!" Skipper gave Kowalski a last, but very meaningful look and the team moved towards their kitchen.

The sushi was indeed delicious, and the team sat satisfied at their kitchen table. Kowalski tried to talk to him, but since Private didn't really enjoy to discuss the matters of gravity, he just ignored Kowalski. Everybody waited for Skipper to give the sign that they were allowed to move away from the table. Finally, Skipper gave the sign to move out. Private made sure that his team mates were drinking their coffee in the living room, before he began to wash the dishes.

Those scars. He hated them. As long as nobody saw them, nobody would see his shame, his misery. Those wounds. He kept making new ones. As long as nobody saw them, nobody could help him. He heard the anchorman Chuck Charles talking about some liquidated mass-murderer, car accidents and a random story about a snowboarding cat. Private heard Skipper giving comments on the news, saying things like: "Of course there are so many accidents, have you seen the weather? It must be influenced by Blowhole!" Or, "I believe that there's a whacked out conspiracy behind that cat, we have to investigate that!" He sighed, although Skippers paranoia had saved them countless times, it could be really annoying too. How could possibly a snowboarding cat held secrets?

Private finished the dishes and sat down beside his team mates. Kowalski was making notes on his clipboard, while Rico and Skipper were watching a program called 'The Cops Last Catch'. He grabbed a cookie and watched some truck explode, what caused Skipper and Rico to jump up and down in excitement and Kowalski to look up annoyed from his clipboard. "You know that you are just acting like Private when he's watching his everyone gets along show, right?"

"I do not act liked that!" Private said, a bit hurt. Kowalski rose his eyebrow and Skipper and Rico turned their heads towards him. "Sure you don't, Private." Skipper ruffled his hair and Private decided that it was for the best to rest the case.

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_So how did you like it?_


	2. Chapter 2: No Real Reason

_Sorry, for the long wait for this chapter, but here it is.  
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_Please enjoy! :)_**  
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**Chapter 2: No Real Reason  
**

Private turned towards his locker. It was neat, ordered. Kowalski could learn from his labeling system. He looked at the little Lunacorn he had glued to the side of his locker. It was a purple one, Princess Self Respectra. She was so nice, so noble. If only he could be a Lunacorn too… "Have you seen how he..?" Private heard two girls whisper behind his back. "And he is still obsessed with that show, you know that one with the pink ponies. That show for babies" Private took a deep breath. If he just ignored them, if he pretended that he wasn't there, maybe they would leave him alone. Maybe they would stop judging him. He took the books he needed for the day out of his locker and put them in his backpack. He had the feeling that it was going to be a long day.

He opened his chemistry book. Although he preferred to learn different languages, so that he could make friends with people from all over the world and communicate with them without problems, Kowalski had made him choose more scientific subjects. And although he had tried to object, Skipper had cut off their discussion with 'You have to obey a soldier in a higher rank, Private. Do what Kowalski tells you to do. we know what is the best for you.'

If only they really knew it better. But they couldn't know him better than himself. They never knew about how he was Mr. Tux, with his mini-golf ambitions. They didn't know anything about him. They couldn't decide what he liked or not. They could only train him. They could only expand his physical abilities. Nothing more. They couldn't invade his mind. Private wrenched his fists, but soon forgot about his anger attack. He could never stay angry for a long time, it wasn't in his nature to be an angry person.

They were still talking behind his back, about that he was always behaving so childish, That his homework was always done. His good grades. Everything seemed to be a reason for them to get him down. Everything, even the most normal things could be a trigger for them. Private closed his eyes, wishing that he was up in the sky, gliding from a rainbow to the earth, gliding to a happy place. A place where they cared about him. A place where he could be himself. He didn't like holding secrets. Not to his friends, not to his enemies. He was an open person, always speaking his mind. He was smart too. Not too smart, like Kowalski, but just smart. Smart enough to have bright future in whatever he wanted to do later.

The truth was that he couldn't decide about what he wanted to do next. His future has already been decided for him. Skipper had already made sure that he would join the military, or the secret service. Skipper had made sure that he could train the boy, so that he would become a valuable part of his team later.

The last bell rang. Private made sure that he packed his stuff and walked out of the school. Everywhere around him were people talking. Some couples were kissing. If only Skipper allowed him to go out. Just one time. One time, how much harm could that do? But Skipper wouldn't even let him get a snow cone alone. As if Skipper was worried that he would get abducted by space-squids or something like that. Private slowly walked towards the car.

"How was school?" Skipper smiled, while Private got into the car. The car caused other students to have a laughing fit. It was pink, flowery, small and his 'dad' was driving it, as if it was a monster-truck. "Fine." The car slowly made its way onto the road, before Skipper hit the gas. "We have an endurance training today." Announced Skipper. Private faked a smile. "That sounds marvelous." He dreaded the endurance trainings the most, right after the training exercises Skipper put them through with team-build-week. Skipper could be really stern, he always demanded the best performance from his soldiers, under all circumstances.

Private looked out of the car window, trees passing by, clouds rolling over. Why did he feel so down? He wasn't someone who was easily depressed, even if people did say not-so-nice things about him. In fact, he always had sensible reasons for feeling down. His parents, their bullying, his fate, the wounds. But with looking out of the window, it made him realize how tiny his problems really were. Even though the sun couldn't be found, even though it started to rain, he felt his emptiness, his loneliness disappear. He only had to see the bright side of life, like how he was going to watch season four of the Lunacorns, having no homework to do, hopefully a short training.

"It's good to see you so happy, Private." Skipper gave him a warm smile, but never turned his attention away from the road. Private smiled back. "It feels good to feel happy, Skippah." He softly rubbed his hand over his left forearm. Relatively good. If only he had never started...

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_Thank you again for reading so far :D_


	3. Chapter 3: A Book As Pillow

_Here's chapter 3. I am sorry for the delay._

_This is definitely not my best chapter, but I still hope that you enjoy it :)**  
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**Chapter 3: A Book As Pillow**

"Come on, Private! You have to run faster! I want improvement all around, so RUN FASTER!" Skipper yelled while Private ran his laps on the local sports-team track. Although it was nearly midnight, on a normal school day and the team was still not finished with their endurance practice, Skipper tried to push them over their boundaries. Private wished that Skipper would call it a day and let them return to their HQ, but he could see that his commanding officer was just warmed up. It would probably mean another night without any sleep, since the training wasn't finished yet and the teachers had been mercilessly… Private tried to run harder to please Skipper, but Skipper kept yelling, kept saying that he wasn't good enough, that he could run faster, jump higher. Skipper told him that he wasn't sharp enough, not in fighting form.

They weren't back at their HQ before 4 A.M. Private picked up his schoolbooks with a sigh and moved on to his first subject: History. He opened his book and looked at the pictures containing the past of the human race. He couldn't care less how Napoleon did find… Something, and how Marco Polo, did… Did…

Private found himself the next morning sleeping on his desk with his history book as a pillow. He was awoke immediately and jumped up from the desk, looking at the clock. Luckily, he hadn't overslept, but he had no time to finish his homework. With a nervous feeling in his tummy, he walked out of his room.

Skipper was already awake too and was apparently waiting for his beloved coffee. "Good morning, Skippah." Although Skipper looked up at him, he didn't reply, he only gave him a small nod. Why did he even bother trying to get a nice greeting out of his team mates each morning? They wouldn't answer nicely anyway. Private walked towards the table which was already covered with the breakfast supplies. He sat down and picked up a slice of bread and a knife. The knife was cold, though at the same time, it filled him with a warmth. It was like picking up an old friend, a lost friend, a forgotten one. It pained Private to put him into the peanut butter, but he had to eat something.

He had almost finished his breakfast when Kowalski and Rico came into the room. "Good morning, did you sleep well?" Private immediately called out to the two men, but they ignored him too, but they didn't even gave him a nod. Private bended his head and looked down at his already empty plate. Why didn't they even greet him back? They didn't have to make him feel like he was invisible. He tried grabbing his orange juice to drink, but knocked the glass over, spilling everything on the table, the ground and Skipper's new suit.

"PRIVATE! Can't you watch what you're doing for once!" Skipper yelled and Private shrunk, wishing now that he was actually invisible. "I'm so very sorry, Skippah!" Skipper walked out of the room mumbling some of his angry words. "Good job, Private, you already managed to get him angry before breakfast. Way to go!" Kowalski angrily remarked, but Private tried to focus on his hands. His hands, only his hands. If he tried hard enough, he wouldn't hear their remarks or Skipper's angry shouts. He wished that he was alone right now. All alone, maybe with one friend, the one who was always there for him when he needed him.

After he got a half hour-long rant about how he always should act thoughtful when around a glass of juice from Skipper, getting too late at school because of that rant and being pelted with food, he was halfway through the day. Private watched the people walking by and tried to stay awake. History, that was the next subject. He slowly walked to the classroom and sat down.

He didn't even catch the teacher's 'welcome to the class' speech. He felt himself drifting to sleep, but couldn't fight it anymore.

"Do you think my subject is so boring that you can sleep through the lesson, sir?" His teacher stood before him and had just woke him up by giving a hard punch on the table. Private blinked and saw that all his classmates were looking at him, some were even laughing. He knew that they would bully him with this as soon as the lesson was over. "No sir, I do not." He mumbled and the teacher turned around with a disapproving look. "So before our short…" He took a small break before continuing his sentence to give Private a meaningful glare. "Break, we were talking about Napoleon and how he -" Private tried to listen to him, but he was just too tired. He tried to keep himself awake by looking at the pictures in his book, but he failed miserably. He slapped himself in the face, and it kept him awake for the next hour.

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_Thank you for reading :)_


	4. Chapter 4: Love Is In The Air

_I'm so sorry for the delay,_

_but here's finally chapter 4, enjoy! :D  
_

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**Chapter 4: Love Is In The Air**

Private slowly opened his eyes and looked around his room. Finally, it was the weekend. The first rays of sunlight showed through the opening from his light blue curtains, indicating that another day had started. He shoved the blankets from his body and stepped barefoot on the cold wooden floor of his bedroom. He yawned and stretched before putting on his morning-jacket. Then, he slowly walked out of his room, carefully so he wouldn't wake the others.

He made his way to the kitchen, through the silent house. The others were probably still asleep or minding their own business in their own rooms. With a sigh, Private sat down at the table. Only one hour before they would have breakfast. The house would be filled with voices, screaming at each other for mistakes they may or may not have made. From time to time, an explosion would be heard, coming either from Kowalski blowing up another one of his inventions or from Rico, testing weapons indoors. Private stared out of the clean kitchen window, deep in thoughts.

The doorbell woke him from his daydreams and while he walked towards the front door, he gave a quick glance to the clock hanging on the wall. It was already near eight in the morning, which would mean that the other team mates should join him for breakfast very soon.

Private turned the alarm systems, which were located nearby the door, off and opened the door. A large woman with long, curly blonde hair was smiling at him with her sparkly white teeth. Her eyes were bright blue colored and she wore a short, pink dress. "Hello… I come for Rico." She said, her smile never-fading, her voice as sweet as honey.

The woman looked like how every man would have pictured his dream girl, young, adventurous, though still very sweet. Private gave her a big smile. "I shall get him, do you have a moment, miss…" She smiled warmly back at him. "Perky. My name is miss Perky." Private nodded and closed the door softly before running towards Rico's room.

Private knocked three times at Rico's door before opening it. Rico's room was filled with weapons, from flamethrowers to handguns. The man Private was looking for sat on his bed, polishing his dearest flamethrower, with a happy look on his face. "Whaz' up?" Rico asked Private, without looking up from his weapon. "Someone's at the door for you… I think she said that her name was miss Perky." Private answered. He laughed when the man threw the flamethrower into the corner of his room and stormed towards the front door.

Then Private made his way to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and set up the breakfast table. Skipper entered the room just after Private had finished setting up the breakfast table. "Good morning Skippah!" Private greeted Skipper, who was already dressed in his new and expensive suit. Kowalski followed Skipper on his heels, already wearing a white lab coat. "Not all of my inventions blow up, Skipper!" Kowalski said in a hurt voice. Private sighed. Not this argument over again. "Just look at the security system! It has been intact and working for three days in a row!" Kowalski said, waving with his hand into the direction of the front door where the system was located.

Suddenly, an explosion came out of the hallway, followed by a shout of Rico and a girlish scream belonging to miss Perky. Skipper raised his eyebrow at Kowalski and the scientist walked mumbling to himself out of the kitchen.

Private picked up his orange juice and took a large sip. Skipper was smearing jam on a slice of bread. "Good morning, Private." It was as if Skipper hadn't seen him before, as if he had just entered the room. Private smiled at him. "Good morning, Skippah. Did you sleep well?" Skipped nodded as reply and Private focused on his slice of bread which was covered with peanut butter. After several minutes of silence, Private cleared his throat. "Skippah? What are we going to do today?" Skipper looked up from his plate before answering. "We have a day off, Private." Private smiled. It was long ago since Skipper had given them a day off.

After Skipper and Private had finished breakfast, Private made sure that the kitchen was as clean as he could get it. He walked towards the window and looked outside. The sun shined brightly outside, Private saw various bird flying by, happily whistling. He thought that it would be a nice change to be outside for once, without Skipper telling what to do, without the wrong directions coming from Kowalski's inventions and without Rico having fun with some weapons.

He walked by some trees, enjoying the quiet environment of the park, although it was in the middle of New York City. He sat down at a wooden bench which was standing close to a pond. He could overlook a big part of the park and he enjoyed watching little families walking together through the park, feeding the birds, laughing at each other's jokes. Sometimes, he wished that he could step out of Skipper's little commando game. Sometimes he wished he had a family, on Nova Scotia, in Canada. Two little children, a lovely wife. What would he give to be loved?

At the other side of the pond sat a couple on a little plaid. The man had obviously made a funny joke, because the woman was laughing. Private concentrated more on the couple. There was something very familiar about them. That was when he was able to see the man's face more clearly. Astonished, Private watched the couple. Had he just seen what he thought he had? He stood up from the bench, still thinking about what he had seen, with his head in the clouds.

"Oof!" He exclaimed and looks at the 'something' he ran into. A girl stood in front of him, her long light-brown hair a little waving in the wind, her green eyes looking worriedly at him. "I'm so sorry! I should have watched where I was going! Are you alright?" Private looked into the dark brown eyes of the girl. It was as if he was flying, a sort of happiness spreading through his body, filling him with a pleasant warmth. Private nodded at her question, feeling as if his voice had just left his throat. He made sure that he would remember every part of the girl's body. From the bottom of her skinny-jeans, to the top of head. Her purple shirt illustrated some sleigh bells.

"So, what's your name?" She asked, smiling friendly to him. "Euhm… Pr-Private." He said stuttering. "Private… What a cute name. Mine's Cupid." Private nodded. "You are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen." He widened his eyes immediately and the girl only laughs back. "You're pretty cute, too."

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_Thank you for reading so far! :D_


	5. Chapter 5: Expendable

_So, here's the next chapter. :)  
_

_I hope that you like it!_**  
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**Chapter 5: Expendable**

Flying, that was how he got home. He didn't walk, no he just flew through the HQ, smiling the whole way. The picture of Cupid couldn't be erased from his mind. Her smile, so beautiful, as if she was an angel. And her eyes, so shiny, so filled with life. Skipper returned to the HQ two hours after Private, smiling broadly. Private knew exactly why. He had seen Skipper and a brown-haired woman sitting by the pond and they were doing more than 'just talking'.

Private was sitting on his bed, drawing her perfect face. He mesmerized every single detail of her face, drawing it now down to never forget again. Above the drawing, he wrote down her phone number. A knock on his door made him look up. Kowalski stood in the doorway, giving him a small smile. "If you don't mind, Private, I would like it very much if you could get a flamethrower from Rico." Private nodded and laid down the drawing on his bed. He would have time enough to look at it after he had finished Kowalski's request.

With a skip in his step, he walked through the house, towards Rico's room. Rico's door was open, but Private could hear voices inside it. "Rico. I told you before, that kid is expendable. We can find another private in mere seconds." Private could hear Skipper say, he hold in his breath. What did he mean with expendable? Was he really that unimportant to the team? Private closed his eyes to rule out the emotional pain he felt. Was it really possible that Skipper wasn't joking when he called him 'expendable', 'unimportant' on those missions? Pushing him into danger head first, often with the comment that he had to take one for the team? Was he really not more than a private to the team? His heart rose when he heard Rico's grunting voice. "No… Too 'angerous."

Private wished that he knew were the two men were talking about. He could only guess that Skipper needed a mission to be done that was extremely dangerous, or not worth his time. He didn't mind making sacrifices for the team, that was who he was. Always kind, always listening, always doing what you were told. He totally forgot why he had come to Rico's room in the first place. With a feeling as if he had just lost his whole life, he made his way back to his room, before Skipper could catch him eavesdropping.

The drawing of the girl he loved, made him smile again. They weren't together yet, but somehow, he had the feeling that they would be together very soon. He let himself fall on the bed with his eyes closed. He wished he had someone who really cared about him, someone he could tell his feelings to. Like a dad or a mom. Not a cold and stern commanding officer, but a loving dad, who would care to listen to him. Not a scientific obsessed scientist, but a warm and sensitive mother. He wondered what his parents were like. Was his dad just as small as he was? Did his mother have the same eyes? Did he act more like his dad, or more like his mother?

He wished that he knew, but all he had from his past, was a small picture with him and his uncle Nigel. A man, large, with grey hair. Private remembered his wonderful stories about daily's and travelling the world. Stories, about finding a better place, finding who you really are. He wished that he could be with Nigel right now. He would know what to do, he would know how to act.

It wasn't for then, that a loud knock on his door woke him from his stream of thoughts. Kowalski came into his room immediately after he had knocked and from the look on his face, Private could tell that he wasn't a bit happy. "Private, didn't I ask you to get a flamethrower from Rico?" Private could see the anger rising in the scientist eyes. If he still had a happy feeling left from that morning, it was now gone entirely. With slight shivering hands he looked up to the scientist. "You did. I only, kind of forgot to get it." He says looking ashamed back to the ground. "I am sorry." The large man gave him an angry glare and then sighed. "I guess I have to get it for myself then." The scientist turned around with those words and walked out of the room. "Ignorant child. What he could have caused…" The scientist muttered under his breath.

With a hollow feeling, Private stood up and walked towards the door. Why did he even hope that she would like him anyway. He had heard it since he got home this morning. He had heard it since he could remember when. Expendable, unimportant, ignorant. Nobody cared about him. He was just a boy for them, annoying, always in the way. He closed the door of his room and sank down on his bed. With shivering hands, he moved away the pillow from his bed. Under the pillow lay a knife, shiny, motionless. As if it was waiting for him.

The knife, the only thing that wouldn't judge him. A silent, listening savior for his broken soul. With the tears running over his cheeks, he picked up the knife. He blamed himself. But the blame would go away. He wished that the pain would go away too. The pain of being unnecessary, unloved. The pain of being left over. He bit his lip. He would do anything to get rid of the pain. Even if it caused him more pain, eventually. His grasp around the knife tightened.

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_Thank you for reading so far. :)_


	6. Chapter 6: Allowed Love

_Here's chapter 6,_

_Have fun :D**  
**_

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**Chapter 6: Allowed Love**

He placed the knife on his forearm. He pushed. Two small drops of blood escaped his freshly made cut. He never placed the knife on his arm to kill himself. No. He wanted to feel the pain, to numb out the emotional damage he was experiencing. It was his drug, his escape. He had made sure that he placed the knife beside his other scars. There was no sense in opening old scars. His finger removed the blood that was appearing from the cuts.

Somehow, the feeling of the burning pain of new cuts made him calm down. Making him feel to have control over his own life. Somewhere, deep inside his mind, something told him to stop. That what he was doing was wrong. But it was his only escape. He couldn't run away, he would be caught instantly. So he tear open his own skin.

The door of his room opened and Skipper walked in. With a quick and smooth move, Private rolled his sleeves over his cuts and hid the knife behind his back. Private didn't have a single idea what Skipper would do if he knew, but he doubted if he liked whatever the man could do if he found out. Skipper gave him a smile, warm and friendly. Somehow, Private felt his heart sink. Skipper only gave him a look like that if he needed to get something done. And by what he had heard from the talk between Rico and Skipper, he was not going to like the thing he needed to do.

"Private, we need you to get secret information by the neighbors." Private raised his eyebrow. "By the neighbors? You mean Julien, Mau-" Skipper cut him off almost immediately. "No. The new neighbors, several houses away." He said. "They have a daughter." Private looked at the drawing of Cupid. Could it be? Was she in just the situation he was in? Then he raises his head. "Why don't you take this job, Skipper?" Skipper smiled at him. "Private. They aren't exactly what you can call my friends. But they don't know you, or that you are in my team." He then gave him a last smile. "Be a good kid and don't let me down, okay?" Private nodded and watched Skipper leaving the room again.

How could Cupid be dangerous? What did Skipper mean with 'Not my friends'? Private asked himself. Why not find out? He cleaned the knife with an old t-shirt and laid it back under the pillow. Then he picked up his mobile-phone from the nightstand and dialed the number he had written above his drawing.

Her voice immediately spoke his name. As if she expected him to call, as if she had waited for him. The thought that it was weird, because he didn't gave her his number, was pushed aside almost immediately. He couldn't care less. She still knew his name!

The phone call didn't take long. To be exact, he had only asked if he could come over, and she had replied with 'yes' before he could even finish his sentence. With his spirits lifted again, he made his way outside the house without even saying goodbye.

She was already in the doorway, waiting for him. A large smile on her face and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her large eyes shimmered. "Long time, no see." Her voice called out to him. Private nodded and followed her inside. He wondered what he was supposed to do now. Skipper never allowed any of them to fall in love, and he had never been actually to a girl's home. He just followed her upstairs to her room. He could hear people talk in what he expected to be the living room. She smiled at him when she held open her door to her bedroom. "There you go." He nodded and walked inside her room. It was a kind of empty. Sure, there were several posters glued to her wall, displaying famous singers and kittens, and there were several small sculptures of dolphins, but there seemed something not quite right there. But Private didn't mind. Finally, he found the girl of his dreams and he would not let her get away by feeling something.

They talked. That's all they did. Private was surprised how easy it was to talk with her. It was like she knew everything he liked and liked it too. She even liked the Lunacorns. They talked for twenty-five minutes about the right way to brush their tails. She even had three Lunacorns herself. She walked with him to his home and then, right before his front-door, they kissed. Not long, but still. It was everything that mattered to him. He decided to never pick up his knife again. Or, at least as long she was by his side.

He opened the door and walked over the threshold. Apparently, just in time for dinner. He smiled when he smelled that they were going to eat fish tonight. Somehow, he had always loved fish. When the children at school saw him eating his tuna sandwiches, they would lift up their chins and walk past him. Making comments about how crazy he was to eat the fish, or more specifically, to eat the sandwiches he brought from home. But Private didn't care, he loved his sandwiches and wouldn't trade them for any of those snacks they sell in a cafeteria.

He smiled at Skipper, Kowalski and Rico and sat down at the table. They all greeted him, each with a big smile on his face. Rico told something about the last explosion he had made, gesturing with his hands how high certain unspecified things flew and Kowalski was talking happily about his latest invention, which didn't blow up yet. Skipper just sat there, watching all of his teammates with a happy look on his face. Private wondered how he ever could have been so sad on this day. Looking back at it, it was just perfect. Meeting Cupid… Being allowed to stay with Cupid, more or less, and everybody was so nice… He smiled and finished off his plate with salmon.

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_Hope your still liking it so far :)_


	7. Chapter 7: Compromised

_Here's chapter 7._

_Have fun! :D_

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**Chapter 7: Compromised**

Private hung up the phone. It was not like he hadn't seen her today, no, he had spent almost the whole day talking with her, but it was their routine to phone each other every night. Private knew that Skipper would never allow him to be the whole night with her, in one bedroom. "In the army is no time for love." Was something he often said when they were discussing the matters of love.

The brown-haired woman who Private had seen in the park came often by, most of the time without knocking. She just walked through the front door, which wasn't secured since Kowalski hadn't fixed the security system yet. And this night, she was over again. Most of the time talking with Skipper, although most of the time they were arguing about facts that no one could really interest. Private walked to the living room. He liked the woman, called Marlene. Apparently she was a neighbor, not living more than five houses away. Private wondered why he had never seen her before, but maybe he just hadn't paid attention to it.

Marlene gave him a warm smile. "Everything alright, Private?" She asked him. Private nodded. "Yes, thank you. Everything alright with you too?" Marlene smiled and nodded too. "Yes, everything is very fine, thank you." Private sat down on the couch. Not in his normal after-school cloths, but in a suit Skipper had bought him. Skipper wanted him to be polite, speaking with nothing less than two words and to keep on smiling when Marlene was around. It was something Skipper always wanted when someone came over, saying that it was part of their cover. Kowalski had been talking to Marlene, something about nuclear reactors and Private was pretty sure that she didn't understand anything about it.

He was sitting on the couch, listening to one of Kowalski's explanations about, the subject had changed, biomechanical discoveries together with Marlene, when Skipper came into the room. His face was serious. Kowalski immediately stopped his talk and looked concerned at Skipper. Private could see that Skipper tried to act happy and nonchalant in front of Marlene, but he knew Skipper good enough to see that he was very concerned about something. "Marlene, sorry… I have to ask you to leave." He said with a forced smile. Private watched Marlene closely. "Sure, no problem." She replied and then she got up from the couch. She walked towards Skipper and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She turned around and smiled at Kowalski and Private. "Goodbye, it was nice talking to you."

When Marlene walked out of the room, Skipper waited until he could hear the front door got slammed shut. He then turned to Kowalski and Private. "We have a problem." He said, the concern growing on his face. "I have received a call from our old friend Blowhole." Skipper said, with a great amount of hatred sounding in his voice, indicating that 'friend' was meant sarcastic. "He has found our secret hide-out." He looked to each one of them and then cleared his throat. "Apparently, there is a spy in our close environment. Has anyone an idea who that might be?" Private looked from Kowalski to Skipper. He had no idea and by the looks of it, Kowalski had neither. Skipper looked at both. "Alright, so we don't have the faintest idea who that might be? Mission meeting in half an hour." Skipper added before turning around and marching out of the room, in a commando-like way.

Kowalski and Private stared at each other in silent. A spy… Blowhole… They knew what that meant. Fighting, exploding secret lairs and… Moving away. It was just like the last time. They had to do it for their own safety, Blowhole's network was too big to just stay in the same place and just _hope _no one would attack them. But why now? Why just when he had found a girl, a girl he thought he was meant for. He couldn't help but thinking that it wasn't fair. How was he supposed to be in a relationship if they lived far from each other apart?

They all sat around the kitchen table, watching Skipper. Private sat between Rico and Kowalski, both looking at Skipper with tension written all over their faces. "Gentleman. Tomorrow morning, we will be on our way to fight Blowhole. When we have won this fight, we have to… Do the normal routine. Cleaning, gathering our stuff and if everything goes to plan, we will move out tomorrow night." Private had never realized that it was hard for Skipper too. He had a girl too. He was in love with Marlene. He was about to leave her behind. "Skipper, what are you going to do with Marlene?" He asked, hoping for an answer. Skipper gave him a stern glare. "None of your business, Private. Did you get the information from that family, what I asked you to do?" Skipper immediately turned toward Private, almost as a fisher, letting out his fishing rod. Private felt guilty. He had totally forgotten about the information. He tried to avoid Skipper's look. "No, I haven't."

Skipper's fist hit the wooden kitchen table with an immense force. Kowalski had already removed his cup of coffee from the table, because he apparently had seen it coming. "Private! We need that information! It is why we moved to here in the first place." Skipper's face became red. "But you don't care about that, do you?" Private stared at his hands, trying not to cry. Skipper sat down at the table. "Just go." He said to the three men and Private got up as soon as possible. He ran up the stairs and into his bedroom. He laid down on his bed and cried. He never wanted to spy on his girlfriend, but he also never wanted to let Skipper down. Private took a deep breath, dried his eyes and gathered some off his stuff in a backpack.

Determined, Private walked towards her home. He wouldn't let Skipper down again. He would get this information now. No matter what. No matter who tried to stop him. He knew that he had to perform very quickly, he knew that he had to be very sharp. He stopped in front of her front door and rang the bell which hang beside it. But something was awkward about this. The bell, which was shaped like a dolphin, seemed to look at him. Private narrowed his eyes. Was that a camera?

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_Thank you for reading so far :)_


	8. Chapter 8: Walking Straight Into Hell

_Here's chapter 8 :)  
_

_Have fun :D_**  
**

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**Chapter 8: Walking Straight Into Hell**

Private took a step towards the dolphin hanging on the wall. He closed one of his eyes and watched it very carefully. There indeed seemed to be a camera placed inside. "Ahum." He heard behind him and Private jumped and turned around. He stood face to face with Cupid. She smiled at him, but she seemed a bit nervous. "Private, what is so interesting about our outside lamp and bell?" She asked him. Private gave her a confused look. "Lamp?" Cupid smiled and nodded. "Yes, lamp. Something that gives light, you know…" She took a short pause mid sentence. "In the darker times of a day." She opened the front door and turned a switch. The dolphin-shaped lamp went on immediately and Private looked closer. It indeed seemed to be just a lamp, not a camera. "I see." He grinned stupidly, while Cupid just smiled back. "Anyway, why did you come?"

Nothing. He couldn't say more than 'nothing'. How was he supposed to retrieve this information while his girlfriend was around? It was impossible. Her sweet smile made him forget about his mission, her laugh made him forget about the world. With a feeling of shame and guilt, mixed with a sort of weird happiness, he opened the door to the HQ. Three men were standing in the hallway, with their coats already on. Skipper turned Private by his shoulders and pushed him out of the door. "Change of plans. We move out now."

"What?!" Private asked shocked. He had hoped to have a short break, he needed to catch his breath. But Skipper seemed tense and Private shut his mouth. He gave a questioning look at Kowalski, who signed him that they could discuss it later.

Skipper opened the pink car for them and they all sat inside. Rico behind the wheel, Skipper beside him, Kowalski and Private shared the backseat. They weren't even buckled up when Skipper gave Rico the sign to reach their destination as fast as possible. Private turned towards Kowalski. "So, what's the hurry?" He asked fast, curious to know what exactly was going on. Kowalski signaled him to lower his voice. "Skipper has had a call from the big office. Blowhole has taken hostages." Kowalski gave him a concerned look and Private thought about this for a moment. "But I thought Blowhole only wanted to get to us, you know getting revenge on us, then the world… Taking hostages isn't really something that's going to help that, is it?" He asked the scientist a bit confused, who sighed. "He either wants to make a big point or has decided to let someone with brains do the revenge-planning. Someone who is able to find a useful purpose to the technology he has." Kowalski sat back in his seat a bit mockingly. "If only I had the access to those advantage technology… Why do the bad guys always get the good stuff?"

Private ignored the muttering scientist and watched the chaos they were creating. He wondered how much dirt the head office had to clean up after every time they let Rico drive, and why they never punished them for making all those problems. Maybe they were afraid of Skipper. He couldn't blame them, most people were. Even he was.

They reached their destination in almost complete silence. The only exceptions were the times Kowalski yelled 'eureka', and Skipper giving Rico the directions how to drive. Private couldn't get his head off of Cupid. In probably less than 24 hours, he had to say goodbye to her. He dreaded that moment. Normally, he was happy to get the news that they had to move to another place. Leaving behind the bullies, hoping for a less lonely life. His wish had come true. He had found a girlfriend. But the moving away part wasn't about to stop.

He glanced over to Skipper. Private wondered how he was feeling right now. He had to leave Marlene behind. And Rico had to leave Perky. The feeling was different than usual in the car. Dark and cold. It felt like the team had finally found a place where they belonged, a so-called home, and they had to leave now. And that was exactly what was about to happen. They had to leave their home.

The car had stopped in front of a tall, gray building. Rico made sure that the car was parked way out of eyesight. The four men stepped out and Skipper gave the sign to climb one of the buildings around the big one. They were going to enter via the roof. Skipper had thought it out exactly and they were following the plan into the smallest details. Skipper made them wait on top of the building for ten minutes. Private looked down. He watched the people walking underneath them. One of his hobbies was watching them and guessing their personality's. When he was done with that, he always liked to give them advice in his head, mostly copied from his favorite television show, the Lunacorns.

"Move in." Skipper said softly to the team and Private watched where he was pointing. A window was left open at the gray building. It was as if it was their lucky day. Kowalski aimed the gun to just above the window and a cord shot out. Skipper went in first, followed by Rico, then Kowalski and as last, Private.

They were in a large room. It was grayish, office like. A desk with an old desktop computer stood lonely in the middle, deserted, forgotten. The four men all tip-toed out of the room, following their commander. Skipper had once told them to be like ghosts or the wind. Or both, whatever would keep them as unnoticed as possible. Private had laughed about that back then, but now realized how serious Skipper had been.

The hallway they had to cross was completely empty. Nothing was placed in it, not even one old photocopier. It seemed like nobody had been there in ages. Still, they moved very slowly, on the top of their senses, just in case someone actually was in the building. The staircases were cold, dark and moist. Some windows were broken and the wind blew straight through the building. It felt colder inside the building than outside, but the four men just walked further. They had a goal, something to achieve, a bad guy to fight. And they didn't care about a little wind or being a little cold.

Private looked so now and then out of one of the window. The streets of this part of the city were empty, no living soul to be seen on the streets. As if everybody had vanished. He tried to get his focus back on the mission, knowing that if Skipper would find out that he had thought about non-mission related things, he would probably slap him into next week. They moved lower and lower into the building, but every floor they went down, the excitement by the three men rose. Finally, they were about to do what they liked the most. The reason why they were going through so much difficulty, keeping secrets, training… They finally could take out the bad guy. Private could see Skipper's smile widen.

They reached a large steel door. Skipper motioned them to stop and wait. Private stood a little back, having nothing to do. After several minutes, they moved in. It was obvious that they had just entered Blowholes lair.

Large, dark, filled with electronic devices, large speakers. In the middle of the lair was a large platform. Kowalski, who entered the lair just before Private slammed his fist against the wall. "Why… Do… The… Bad… Guys… Always… Get… The… Good… Stuff…" The scientist said, saying each word every time one of his fists hit the wall. Skipper turned his head towards Kowalski and raised his eyebrows, before giving a sigh and rolling his eyes.

Private looked through the lair. Something felt wrong. As if there was something that wasn't supposed to be there. He looked around and saw a cage, covered with a blanket. He could see several human figures sitting in it, unrecognizable and silent. He watched them shocked, just like Skipper and Rico. Kowalski joined them only moments later. "No, he didn't." Skipper said, the anger raising in his voice.

The lights went off and they stood in the pitch-black darkness. Private felt something moving and then the lair was filled with horrible laughter.

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_I hope you are liking this story so far :)_


	9. Chapter 9: Mouth Wide Open

_Here he is, chapter 9. Have fun! :D_

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**Chapter 9: Mouth Wide Open**

Private took a small step forwards, his eyes slowly getting used to the darkness. He could hear something move and surrounding them. Private could see the vaguely outlines of Skipper and he moved closer to the man. Skipper had already gotten into his fighting-stance, ready to attack every next moment. At Private's right side stood Rico, and Private could see a small flickering light, creeping towards the darkened shape of the man, indicating that Rico had gotten one of his sticks of dynamite out. The lair was completely silent again, except for the ongoing evil laughter they all knew a bit too well.

Suddenly, the lights went on again, and a man sitting in a wheelchair was displayed. "Blowhole!" Skipper yelled and the man maniacal laughed as reply. "Who else, Skipper?" Private looked at the men surrounding them. They all were small, smiling in a stupid way. All the man wore the same outfits, with red accents. He could hear some muffled sounds coming out of the cage at the other side of the lair. Private could see that there were three humans in them. He was almost about to run towards the cage, since he felt an enormous attraction to it. He did a step forward, but got blocked immediately. He then moved closer to Skipper, who was staring at the man. "Trust me, Private." Skipper whispered with his mouth barely moving. Private immediately relaxed a little.

He looked from Skipper to Blowhole and back. It seemed like they both were busy holding a staring contest, but then the men surrounding them attacked. Private felt his hands being held together and before he could do anything, they all hang against a steal wall, hanging by only their arms and feet, making it quite hard to breath. Rico's stick of dynamite exploded in the corner of the lair the farthest away from them, but left no damage at all. Private heard Rico giving a disappointed. "Awh..." The foursome all looked at the man in front of them, laughing maniacally and evilly. Private couldn't help but laughing a little. Maybe it was comic relief, maybe it was the constant laughing of the enemy who made it a funny experience. He received an angry look from Skipper and he immediately turned his smile into an angry glare.

Dr. Blowhole was, even though sitting in a wheelchair, a man who appeared very tall. His bald head seemed to glimmer brightly in the light of his lair, and his face was smooth, no traces of age. Only his left eye was gone, in the place of it he wore some kind of device that apparently gave him the power to see again. There was a small scar noticeable under the device, red against the white skin of dr. Blowhole. The man started talking to them, with his evil drenched voice.

"Skipper, my dear enemy. I welcome you to your, and your teams, doom. A sort of welcome to hell, if you get where I am pointing at." The man said and laughed again. Skipper looked angry back at him. "I don't think so." This resulted only in more laughter from Blowhole. Private just looked at the human figures in the cage and waited for Skipper and Blowhole to finish their 'I haven't seen you in a while and I hate you' talk. It was something they always did. Randomly talking about hating each other, talking about destroying each other and then Blowhole moves on to the subject of destroying the world.

From today's talk, Private understood that Blowhole wanted to destroy the world by freezing the whole thing. For Private, it seemed somewhat similar to Blowhole's previous plans, like making the icecaps melt and trying to drown all the people who couldn't swim. When Blowhole moved to the mission explanation, Private listened carefully. apparently, he had some machine that was able to freeze the whole world in half an hour, making most people freeze to death. Private shivered by the thought of it. Then, as always when they met dr. Blowhole, there was a discussion between him and Kowalski. Plans that weren't planned right, money, latest technology... It was almost like they were having tea-time together. Private looked at Skipper, who was nodding with his head in the direction of the cage and somehow suggesting with his head-and-finger motions that they had to free the prisoners when they were free.

Somehow, Private always knew that Skipper would get them out of any position they were in. Just like now. Skipper smiled and managed to throw something to a switch at the other side of the lair. The lights went out, and Private felt the chains around his pulse letting go of him. Blowhole shrieked, apparently surprised by Skipper's sudden move. It was crystal clear now that Kowalski had only been pretending to be interested in the fact that Blowhole had expanded his surround-sound cinema set with three new speakers. Private made his way to the cage, being completely blind by the fact that they were still left in the dark. The lights went on when he reached the cage. He turned around and first looked at his teammates. They were all fighting, Skipper taking on Blowhole, in a hand-to-hand combat, while Rico was trying to blow up the half of the lair aiming for Blowhole's minions.

Private tried to open the cage, but it was locked. He removed the cloth covering the cage and quickly began to pick the lock. He glanced over his shoulder now and then, to see if the other's were still doing alright. Then he looked up and stared right into the eyes of one of the hostages. "What?!" He said, immediately backing away, his mouth falling wide open.

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_Thank you for reading, I hope you are still liking it! :)_


	10. Chapter 10: Cage Of Fear

_Finally, here is chapter 10!_

_Certainly not my best one, but still: I hope you're going to enjoy it! :D_

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**Chapter 10: Cage Of Fear**

Impossible. This is impossible. That was exactly what he thought when he looked into the other's eyes. Maybe he had said it out loud too. Private didn't know, but the word 'impossible' was all he could think about. He was staring right into the eyes of his uncle. He shook his head. It was impossible, not supposed to happen. Uncle Nigel was not supposed to know about their activities, to get caught right into it. He was not supposed to be in a dark lair, filled with criminal minions and an evil man. Private backed away a little further from the cage, as he saw the dark cringes beneath the man's eyes. His uncle gave a small smile when he saw Private's shocked expression. "Private, it's alright. I know it all."

It's alright… How could something like this be alright? The only real family he had left, appeared to know that what he had tried to keep a secret for a long, very long time. He had always thought he had done a good job, nobody at school knew, none of his friends, if he had any, would have ever found out. But now, the uncle he only saw once so often, knew. Knew about their secrets, their activities. Skipper would try to kill them both, Private was sure about that.

He continued to stare at the hardened face of the man in front of him. His eyes lay deep in his skull, as if he hadn't slept in days and his white-gray hair was standing in every possible direction. The cloths of his uncle, normally as clean and British as one could imagine, were foul and even held some holes. After looking for a longer time, Private could see the bruises on the man's face, and the small cuts at the spots where his cloths were ripped open. All the traces were there to say that Blowhole hadn't been the most elegant host.

Suddenly, something in Private's mind told him that he should hurry up. Without further hesitance, he moved to the cage again and opened it. Uncle Nigel gave him a small smile, before throwing himself into the battle. Private looked at the man surprised. His uncle knowing the things they got into was one thing, but his uncle throwing himself into the battle next to Skipper was a thing he wouldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams. Private shook his head and looked at the other prisoners. Both female. Both persons he knew too.

Just like Nigel, they had wounds and bruises all over their bodies. Just like Nigel, their cloths were ripped and foul. But unlike Nigel, they seemed to hold fear. Private shook his head. Looking into the eyes of his uncle was a shock, but now standing there and looking in the eyes of his girlfriend… that was something he wouldn't have expected either.

"Cupid?" He asked her with wide eyes. The girl in front of him nodded and then walked towards him. "Private..." She said softly before hugging him tightly. She started to cry and Private, feeling a bit uncomfortable, looked at the other prisoner. Marlene, standing at the other side of the cage, gave him a small smile, but it couldn't erase the expression of fright upon her face. Private took a step in her direction, right into the cage. He extended his hand towards her. "Marlene… Everything is alright." He says, trying to get her out of the cage as soon as possible.

But she wouldn't move. How hard he pulled her hand, she wouldn't move a muscle. She just stood there, frozen in anxiety. Private took a deep breath and then looked around. There had to be a way, maybe somebody to help him. But everybody was fighting, except for him, Cupid and Marlene.

"Come on, Marlene!" Private said hurriedly as he glanced over his shoulder. It was obvious that their team wasn't on the winning side. Skipper, surrounded by several of Blowhole's minions, was pushed to the wall with a knife very close to his face. Rico seemed buried under a small pile of rocks. Kowalski was investigating some of Blowhole's devices. Apparently, nobody saw a threat in him doing so, since nobody was paying attention to anything the scientist. Private looked quickly around, searching for his uncle Nigel. He found him in the corner of the lair furthest away from him, fighting off the minions like a professional fighter.

Private couldn't help it, but he kept on staring in trance at his uncle. He never expected him to be able to fight, and now his uncle was fighting almost as well, as if not as good as Skipper. He wondered where his uncle had learned that. He had never heard Nigel telling a story about learning kung-fu or some other fighting techniques, only stories about finding exotic flowers in British backyards. It wasn't for then, that Private saw all the men coming towards the cage. The men surrounded them. They got closer and closer to them, and he took a step back, deeper into the cage. He was almost standing next to Marlene now, who was still frozen in fear.

Then, they pushed Cupid into the cage. She slammed against him, and Private managed to catch her just before she could fall to the ground. The slamming sound of the door of the cage being shut seemed to fill the whole lair. Failed. He had failed to free the prisoners and so failed the mission he got assigned from Skipper. He looked at the ground. Skipper had been right. He was a total failure.

And even though his girlfriend was next to him, Private couldn't find any happy thoughts in his head. It was all his fault. He had totally messed up the mission. Instead of freeing the prisoners, he was now locked with them. Private feared Skipper's reaction. He wouldn't be too happy for sure. He would yell at him, probably make him train twice as hard. But most of all, Private feared what was going to happen to him and the others now. What would Blowhole do with them, now that he finally appeared to be on the winning side?

Private had no clue. With his head in his hands, he sunk back against the steel bars of the cage.

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_Thank you for reading this far :)_


	11. Chapter 11: Seemingly Normal Prisoner

_ Here's chapter 11, I am sorry for the delay. :)_

_Anyway, have fun! :D_

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**Chapter 11: Seemingly Normal Prisoner**

Private looked around the room. Happy colors, smiling animals, magazines, some neatly folded sheets in the corner, it appeared to be quite a normal room. Maybe it seemed a bit too happy for a prison.

His cloths were neat, clean, but had red and black stripes on them. His haircut made him look a bit messy, just like how a real criminal would look. His sparkling blue eyes which could have made every girl fall for him were now blunt and lifeless. But still, he looked young, younger than that he really was, and way to young to be a prisoner. He sat down on his bed, just like almost every other seemingly normal prisoner would do in a normal prison.

If only he was a normal prisoner, arrested for something he did _wrong_, instead of being arrested for trying to save others, trying to save the world. But that is not how the criminal world works. Criminals were their own police, looking the good-guys because they were in the way of world-domination. Where his teammates were? Private didn't have the slightest idea. He only knew that they were locked away too. He also knew that he couldn't escape on his own. He told himself every time he felt like giving in and giving up hope, Skipper would have a plan. Skipper always had a plan, why wouldn't he have one now?

Somehow, he started to wonder _if_ Skipper really _would_ come to safe him. What if he would just leave him alone? After all, he was Private, the boy without parents. Private, the boy who always listened, but never succeeded. Private, the boy who was always honest, but his opinion wasn't world changing. Private, the boy without a real name. He was just Private. Just _a_ Private, if you may. Nothing more, nothing less. He was just as unimportant as the cloths he was wearing.

But was he? He had proved himself that he _could_ make a difference. His failure meant something... His failure had caused not only Skipper to get angry at him, he had also managed to get the whole team and several other people get locked away. He _had _made a difference. He _was_ important. Somehow, these thoughts cheered Private up. He almost felt like singing, even though he now lived in a cold and dark prison cell, all on his own.

But still, he was locked away in a prison cell, with a sentence to the end of his life. Blowhole wouldn't let them go that easily, not after all the destroyed revenges or revenges over the destroyed revenges. And so, Private came to think about how much misery they had caused upon the disabled man. The only thing he had wanted was to get some sympathy. Private knew, from Blowholes repeatedly rants, that other people made him do a trick including spewing fire. Apparently seeing a man in a wheelchair do such a thing, was something people wanted to see very badly.

A loud bang made him snap back to reality. He looked up at the door. Private saw a man standing in front of the door. He had to wait until the smoke had cleared, but he had a vague idea that he knew who had blown up the door and a part in the wall. He was at least pretty sure a guard wouldn't have done something like that. But his mind made it hard to believe that it was really happening, that there really was someone at the other side who cared enough to break him out. Maybe someone strong and responsible, maybe someone who would wake him from the nightmare? Maybe Skipper came to care for him after all?

The smoke faded away and the silhouettes stepped forward. Somehow, Private had expected to see Skipper coming out of the smoke. But when he blinked he saw that it was not Skipper, it was his uncle Nigel. Private stared at him with an open mouth. How much surprises would be left for him? It somehow felt unfair to him that his uncle was a secret agent and had never told him. No, he had been fed with stories about dailies and travelling all around the world. No problem for Private at all, but why wasn't he trusted? Why had Nigel never given him even the slightest hint of what he was _really _doing?

Now that Private came to think about it, while staring at his uncle who moved quickly towards him and grabbed his hand, he could have seen the hints. Normal people didn't travel around that often. Nigel was always away to another country. Private mentally face-palmed himself. It was just something for him to always believe what people were telling him and to not scratch through a thin surface. He didn't think that _trusting_ was something bad, but he agreed with himself that he could use some of Skipper's paranoia. But only a hint, not too much. He knew that could make him lose his faith in humanity.

Nigel grabbed fast his hand and pulled Private out of the cell. He saw an endless gray hallway and they started to run it down. Nigel went so fast that Private had trouble keeping up with him. Soon, his legs begun to hurt and his lungs felt like they were on fire. But although his body told him to stop, Private followed Nigel willingly and didn't look back once. The gray hallways which had seemed endless were behind them in a matter of seconds, but Nigel didn't stop running when they were out of the building. He ran through the streets as if the devil was on his heels, with Private still behind him.

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_Thank you for reading! :D_


	12. Chapter 12: Curtain Of Thick Mist

_Here is finally chapter 12 :D_

_Have fun!_

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**Chapter 12: Curtain Of Thick Mist**

Nigel set Private down on the cold hard street. The boy's legs immediately swept away from under his body and he fell face-forward on the ground. He was just in time to catch himself with his hands on the pavement, even though this still gave him small burns on the palms. He looked up at his uncle with an expression mixed between confusion, thankfulness and amazement. He still had a hard time believing this really was _his _uncle Nigel, but there was no point in denying. He was really standing in front of him. Private managed to sit himself down on the cold ground, panting a little. His uncle was not even sweating, as if he hadn't run at all. Private found it hard to believe that even though Skipper had trained him so harshly that he still was in less condition than the grown and even a bit elderly man beside him. "Why? How?" He managed to finally utter while regaining his breath. uncle Nigel put his finger against his mouth and then turned to look around the corner of the building they were behind. "Not now." He silently said and then took Private's hand and pulled him on his feet. "We need to keep on moving." Private got up and then stood a bit shakily on his feet, but followed his uncle again as they ran through the streets.

"Aren't we going back for Skipper, Rico and Kowalski... And what about the girls?" Private managed to say as they got further and further away from doctor Blowhole's lair. "No. _We_ aren't." Uncle Nigel replied a bit harshly. It wasn't for minutes that the man stopped in front of a wooden door. He knocked several times on a certain place of the door and a small iris scanner came out of the wall, next to other security devices of which Private had no idea they even existed. He watched uncle Nigel with a slightly opened mouth and after a couple of minutes and several times of glancing over their shoulders, Private and Nigel went inside of the house. The house felt cold, but also like he was coming home. Someone just needed to warm up the heater, pull open the curtains and set a nice pan of chicken soup on the fire and it would be cozy. It felt like he had been there before. As a sort déjà vu he walked behind Nigel to the end of the hallway.

"Do you recognize it?" Uncle Nigel asked him with a small smile. "Recognize?" Private asked a bit confused. Had he been here before? Had he already seen the paintings of dying old trees who had let their orange-colored leaves fall down to the ground? Was that why it seemed so familiar? Was this his old home? Hadn't he been an orphan for years and years after? Private watched his uncle. He fell from the one surprise into the other. What was happening? Would he finally find out what exactly had happened to his parents? Why he had to life with Skipper and the rest of the team when he could have lived in a warm and loving home with his parents. Uncle Nigel gave him a small smile. "Yes, recognize. You've been here before, even though it was long ago." He said in a somehow softer than usual voice.

"But how? When?" He asked his uncle quickly. "Not now." Was his reply and the man opened the door at the end of the hallway to, apparently, an old-styled furnished living room. Private waddled inside with a very small smile to his uncle. His thoughts swam around and around in his brain, while he was taking in every little detail of the room. It was indeed as if he had been here before, but he couldn't _remember_ that he had been. As if a curtain of thick and foggy mist hang over his brain, disguising and hiding every little memory he could have had of this room. He could see the shadows of the days he had spent inside, playing, laughing... But the pictures didn't get clear. They seemed too far away and how more he tried to remember, how more they faded. Was it his own imagination?

The old dark brown wall-paper was ripped at several places and someone had spilled some sort of brownish liquid on the couch. It seemed like red wine, but with every step Private came closer to the couch, it was more and more like old and dried blood. He turned around and looked at Nigel. The atmosphere, first so welcoming and friendly, had turned the whole way around with the few steps he had taken. It didn't feel alright, it felt like something had been struggling here... Nigel gave him a small smile. "It's alright, boy." He said slightly soothingly. He had been watching Private from the corner of the room for the whole time. "What... What happened here? Why did you bring me here?" Private asked, looking around the room. He didn't know anymore what to feel. This room made him feel so happy, yet so sad at exact the same time. "Because you need to know." Uncle Nigel replied.

He wished he already knew what this was all about. The sadness made him miss his friend, the happiness made him realize he didn't need his friend. But whatever he thought, whatever happened, the room didn't leave him alone. As if he was trying to remember a famous singer and couldn't remember her name. Uncle Nigel opened the door again and let Private leave the room. "This is, or better said _was_, my house and home." He explained to Private. "Your home?" Private asked surprised. "Isn't that what I just said?" Nigel answered with a slightly harsh undertone in his voice that Private knew so well of Skipper. He looked slightly hurt at his uncle. Just when he thought he had found someone friendly... But uncle Nigel gave him a small smile before continuing his story. "I am a spy. A British spy to be precise." Nigel said. Private nodded. He would have been amazed if Nigel had told him earlier, but now it seemed one of the most normal and logical explanations Private had heard today. "This was my HQ. Sometimes, colleagues had to come over out of England, and they stayed here." Uncle Nigel's voice somehow cracked at the end of his sentence.

"One day, a lovely young and potential _couple_ came to stay in my HQ. They were both secret agents and even married. You didn't see something like that happen often. It was a delight to have them stay here... But in the middle of their stay, they discovered something..." Uncle Nigel said thoughtfully, while looking more through Private than at him.

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_Hope you are liking this story so far! :)_


	13. Chapter 13: Normal Sunday Afternoon

_Finally the next chapter! :D_

_Have fun!_

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**Chapter 13: Normal Sunday Afternoon**

Just another normal Sunday afternoon. As normal as any other Sunday afternoon, filled with drinking a cuppa of his favorite Earl-Grey tea, working some on his rare dailies in the garden, maybe he would plan another trip to wherever around the world too. His radio played another arrangement of classical music and Nigel took another sip of tea. He smirked at the reflection of himself in a nearby window. His neighbors still thought of him as that lovely young British man. Always polite, always clean and handsome. He could be so handsome if he wanted to. And that was his cover. A handsome, British man who just loved working in his garden, reading and listening to classical music.

He was a good secret agent. His cover was worked out from every millisecond to millisecond, from every place he ever touched to everywhere he should have been but wasn't. Fighting, jumping, running, he loved the thrill of chasing criminals and getting them to a hold. And those things, which he relived moment for moment, were all unknown by almost everyone he 'really' knew... Almost everyone that is. Only the head quarters, the ones that gave him his missions knew about his existence as a secret agent. And his enemies. But both parties had no idea about his 'daily life', his 'true friends' and the 'activities' he may have been doing, just like the 'activities' he hasn't done. For Nigel it was easy to keep those two lives completely separated, even though his one life couldn't function without the other. It was a puzzle, which he loved to remake every single moment, and he had gotten quite good at it.

But that Sunday afternoon, enjoying the quietness of his living room, there was something different. He could feel it in his gut. As if the tea in the with flower painted cups was predictive. He shove a bit around in his seat, looking at the clock. He wondered where that feeling came from. He wasn't used to feeling so nervous. Even on the greatest missions, he was the paragon of calmness, always taking his time to work and think out his moves. But now he kept on glancing at his door, back to the beige wallpaper at the other side of the living room and back again to the front door. It was as if he knew that someone was coming for him, but he couldn't see anything through the glass of the door. Nigel sighed a little and then returned his focus on his book.

After a couple of hours, three loud knocks were heard on Nigel's front door. He frowned and set down his book on the coffee table in front of his couch. He walked rather slowly to the front door, laid his hand on the handle and opened it. In front of the door stood a man and a woman, both around Nigel's age. But they seemed troubled, lost. The woman, inches shorter than her companion had short, black hair and lovely green eyes. They pierced right into his eyes and her small soft hands grabbed the hands of the man next to her. She wore a summer dress which reached to over her knees with a pattern of flowers, which made her seem younger, more fragile and more adorable than that she probably was.

The man next to her appeared to be more of a stronger type of guy, his hand enclosed the hand of the girl completely. His hair was dark blonde and he had strong blue eyes. Eyes full of life and power. Eyes that told Nigel that the man would fight through anything to keep that what he loved safe. Eyes that would tell the truth even though the mouth beneath them would be lying... The eyes of that man were clearly his weakest spot, his Achilles heel. The eyes would cause him to fall. His suit, which he wore with some sort of proudness, seemed to be a bit out of place next to the woman's summer dress. The weird thing was that he didn't have a case and the woman didn't even held a purse. They stood empty-handed in front of his house, apparently in search for... Some kind of shelter?

"Sir, excuse us for troubling you..." The woman spoke in a light and sweet voice with a prominent British accent, it fitted her appearance perfectly. Nigel immediately showed a small smile to both the woman and the man and they both seemed a bit more comfortable. "But we have nowhere to stay for tonight..." She finished her sentence and Nigel could see the tension and hope in her eyes growing. The man moved a bit nervously from his left foot to his right one. Nigel pondered this for a moment. Though he wasn't an unfriendly person, he wasn't keen on sharing his home with _strangers, _also. He looked again from the man to the woman and back. What would it mean for his cover? Would he be able to keep it up with two guests in his home?

Nigel didn't know why he had let them in. Something had told him not to. Something had told him that it would be disastrous for his cover. But on the other side, what could go wrong? It was not like they were agents from one or another enemy, he somehow was sure of that. What had made him let them in? He pondered on his hospitality for quite some time, before looking at the man and woman who were sitting opposite of him. He had poured them a cuppa also and they were now nibbling on their biscuits. _cute,_ Nigel thought. Two British people with a cup of tea and a biscuit. He then looked at his own cup which was half full with tea and frowned a little. Three British people with a cup of tea and biscuit... How cosy.

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_Thank you for reading so far, I hope you like it :)_


	14. Chapter 14: After The First Cuppa

_And here is finally chapter 14! :D_

_Have fun :)_

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**Chapter 14: After The First Cuppa**

They basically never saw each other after that first cuppa. Nigel sometimes saw them both, or one of them leaving his house, but they were both either away or in the room he had given to them. Every week, he received a payment for the room, but they never spoke to each other again. But Nigel knew that they were nice and trustworthy. Besides that, the British head quarters had send him a couple of letters containing the basic info and his suspicions were confirmed. They really were agents, just like him. Their mission was top secret and Nigel somehow got the feeling that they both were in a higher rank than he was. But Nigel didn't really care about those things. He used his free time on the exact same way as before and he never used that room anyway. But he got curious, what was exactly their mission? How long would it precisely last?

They seemed a happy couple, every time Nigel saw them, they were smiling and holding each others hand. But they never really spoke with each other in the open. He figured they probably hadn't much to say to each other. One thing caught his eye though, the woman seemed to get slowly out of shape. She seemed to become thicker and she wasn't going away with her husband as often as she used to. One time, after the man had left his house, Nigel decided to pay the girl a little visited. He figured she would be lonely, alone in the room with her friend away... He knew how it was to be an agent, to never really have contact with anyone and most of the time being alone finishing almost impossible to solve problems. He softly knocked on the door and a sweet voice he didn't hear often called him in. He slowly opened the door and curiously opened the door.

The room was cleaner than it had ever been. It seemed happier, though that was probably because of all the small decorations that had been placed into the room. He knew that had to be the hand of a woman, because men never really were that keen on those useless attributes. Especially men with little time, like agents, often kept their room very basic and kept everything in perfect order. But a woman, she needs everything nice and happy looking. And to be honest, Nigel kind of liked all those British decorations. He smiled at the little flag that was hanging in the room and then looked at the girl who was sitting on the bed and smiled at him with a wide smile. "Hello, sir." She said in her soft and sweet voice.

Nigel nodded and invited himself to sit in the chair opposite of the bed. "Euhm... Everything alright?" Nigel asked with a little hesitance sounding through in his voice. He never was one to get nervous for a talk, he always was the one using sass talk on the villains to get them even more annoyed. But now that he had to talk to his guest, he felt kind of nervous. He didn't know why, he had talked to so many girls before and he wasn't even interested in her. The girl nodded as reply. "It's great, everything is great." And Nigel knew immediately that she wasn't allowed to say much more. Head Quarters had always been very strict with the codes. You were not even allowed to tell someone which buss station you were taking to get from the supermarket to the house. Not that the agents really followed the code, no, most of them used to make fun of the, by paranoia fed, rules and codes. Except for the ones who were clear and obvious, the _dangerous_ ones. The ones that helped you remain undercover, safe, alive.

She softly pushed a cup of tea in his hands with a small smile. He returned a smile and a silent 'Thank you'. The girl nodded. He hadn't asked for the tea, but it was a welcome surprise, making it easier to start up a conversation. It wasn't for then, when she sat down, that he really saw the difference. She seemed to be thicker, rounder and somewhat heavier. But not that kind of heavier that one gets from training less. No, this was a kind of getting heavier Nigel had only seen by women... Pregnant women. He stared for a couple of moments at her belly, totally unaware of the fact that he was being impolite. She smiled a little and nodded. "Yes. I am." She says softly answering his unasked question.

"So that's why you aren't joining your friend as much as you used to..." Nigel stated silently and the woman nodded. "Yes, though he is not my _friend._ He is my husband." She smiled softly and sweetly at him and showed him the wedding ring. Not by holding her hand out for him to look at it, she showed it by softly moving her finger more on the cup so that it became more visible. That kind of body language was used a lot in the secret agency. Body language could save your life more than once.

Nigel nodded and made sure to not glance too long at the ring, though long enough to evaluate it. It was a simple, clean, golden ring. One diamond on top of it sparkled in the fluorescent light of the lights of the room and it was apparent that the ring had been cleaned a lot. Nigel smiled a little, he knew that indicated a happy marriage. A woman that held proudly on to her ring, did the same to her man. He then glanced at her belly again. He was kind of curious whether they were or weren't going to stay in his house while the pregnancy and more importantly, if they would stay here with the baby too.

The woman looked at Nigel. "I don't know how much longer my husband needs to stay here..." She said then, in a rather silent voice. "But I hope, I sincerely hope, that you don't mind us staying with you as long as he needs." She asked him with an insecure smile and a small blush. Nigel could tell that she kind of felt ashamed for asking him that favor, but he didn't see it as anything to be ashamed of. "Of course, please stay." He replied with a smile. "Take all the time you both need." He said with a nod and the woman smiled suddenly wider than he had ever see her do before. It made clear to him how much pressure the thought of having no place to stay with a baby on the way gave her.

"Well, I think I better head out then." He said with as he got up from the chair with a smile to the girl. She nodded. "Thank you for your visit, sir." She said sincere. Nigel smiled and shook his head a little. "My pleasure." He said before placing his hand on the doorknob and left the room.

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_I hope you're still liking this story :)_


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